Tiffany And Company
Washington Mutual credit card fraud on Visa check card, temporary funds placed and reversed, WaMu and Tiffany no help. Ripoff

In June of someone somehow obtained the numbers for my Visa check card. Their first charge was for $200 at a New York restaurant. Four days later, they charged $475 through Tiffany & Co. Mail order. They used my billing address, and then they sent an email from "leaksoul@yahoo.com" to Tiffany and Company to have the package sent instead to an address in Pennsylvania. (These details were obtained later from Tiffany and Company over the phone.)

I was contacted by Visa fraud prevention after this charge went through. (Good thing I had no more in that bank account anyway.) When I went in to my Washington Mutual branch, they provided me with the forms necessary to dispute the charge. They also initiated the chargeback process, and within about 5 days I received a temporary credit for the $675.

I mailed in the form about three days later. Unfortunately I did not get proof of mailing.

After 90 days had passed from the time of the fraudulent charge, I receive a letter from Washington Mutual that the case has been closed and that the temporary funds would be taken back out of my account because I did not submit the paperwork for the chargeback. I had also received a previous letter from Washington Mutual about 30 days before this time, warning of this event, which I should have acted on but which I did not because I wasn't living at my mailing address at the time. (So this would probably have been solved a long time ago if I had been more proactive about monitoring my mail—or, for that matter, if WaMu had been about theirs.)

At 92 days after the fraudulent charges were made, I went in to the Washington Mutual bank branch again and discussed the situation. The bank tellers recognized me and remembered me going in to dispute the charge at the branch. They phoned in some kind of Washington Mutual headquarters. The answer came down on high: no chargebacks may be processed after 90 days, whatsoever.

(I'd like to know if this is a Visa rule or a Washington Mutual rule or what?)

Anyway, so a couple days later the funds come out of my bank account; the restaurant and the jewelry store have their money, the bank has theirs, the thief has his/her jewelry, and everyone is happy but me. Washington Mutual tells me that my only recourse is to contact Tiffany and Company to negotiate a payment for the loss I incurred from them.

I call Tiffany and Company's customer support line and am informed that it was indeed shipped to an address in Pennsylvania and that it is company policy not to require a signature (or apparently even ship to the billing address) on orders under $1000. When I say, "I guess Tiffany and Company doesn't care about ripping people off, " I am told that this is wrong but nothing tangible comes of it.

I tried to let it go but could not really do it.in January of I sent a next day letter to Tiffany and Company at:

600 Madison Ave.
New York, NY 10022

Advising them of the situation, making a respectful demand for reimbursement, and advising them that I would be seeking legal remedy if they do not get in touch and reimburse me the funds.

The next week, I am contacted by someone in their collections department. After he does some research and verifies again that the order was shipped to Pennsylvania because of an email from leaksoul@yahoo.com (and of course this fraudster is the one who placed the order), the representative stated that he would treat this as a chargeback if he could and talk to his manager about making a refund.

The week after that, I receive a message that there is nothing Tiffany can do without receiving a chargeback from the bank and that, however, the representative would be willing to serve as a contact for Tiffany and Company in future correspondence.

In February of I will be filing a small claim against Tiffany and Company in the superior court of California and would appreciate any information I can obtain to help me recover the losses that I have sustained because of credit card fraud in conjunction with lax safeguards against such from Tiffany and Company.

Company: Tiffany And Company
Country: USA
State: New York
City: New York
Address: 600 Madison Ave
Phone: 8008433269

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